Chapter 7 - THE MOTHER-IN-LAW WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
Vivienne Duval had never liked me.
She smiled at our wedding.
She sent expensive birthday gifts.
She called me darling whenever reporters were nearby.
But behind closed doors, she treated me like an inconvenience Julian had failed to correct.
When I struggled to conceive, she became cruel.
"Some women simply aren't made for motherhood," she once told me over Sunday lunch.
Julian had heard her.
He'd said nothing.
Now I understood why.
Vivienne knew the truth.
And she'd helped hide it.
Rachel arranged a meeting with investigators reviewing the financial and medical-record allegations.
By noon, they had connected Vivienne to the consulting company that altered my discharge paperwork.
But one question remained.
Why had she mentioned the Lancaster family?
Gabriel examined the email carefully.
His expression changed.
"Khloe, when did you first meet Julian?"
I frowned.
"At a charity auction. Six years ago."
"Who introduced you?"
"Vivienne."
Gabriel went still.
"What?"
"She said Julian wanted to meet me."
He slowly sat down.
"That wasn't a coincidence."
My stomach tightened.
"Explain."
Gabriel opened an old photograph.
It showed our fathers standing together at a medical research conference.
My father, Dr. Thomas Bennett.
Gabriel's father, William Lancaster.
Both had died years earlier.
I stared at the picture.
"I didn't know they were friends."
"They were more than friends," Gabriel said.
"They were research partners."
My heart began pounding.
"What kind of research?"
"Reproductive medicine. Patient privacy systems. Early-stage fertility treatments."
I looked at him.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"Because I didn't know you were Thomas Bennett's daughter until we met at the foundation meeting two years ago."
I remembered.
Gabriel had approached me after learning I was anonymously funding medical assistance programs.
He'd asked whether I wanted to help expand the foundation.
I'd agreed.
At first, our relationship was professional.
Then friendship followed.
And slowly, unexpectedly, something more.
Gabriel continued.
"Our fathers developed a patent portfolio together. After their deaths, the rights were placed in a trust."
I stared.
"What trust?"
He looked at me carefully.
"The Bennett-Lancaster Medical Trust."
My mouth went dry.
"My father never mentioned it."
"According to the records, he left instructions for you to receive a briefing after your thirtieth birthday."
I froze.
I'd turned thirty the month Julian filed for divorce.
Gabriel opened another document.
"And someone tried to challenge your eligibility before the trust administrator could contact you."
My heart dropped.
"Who?"
"Vivienne Duval."
For a moment, I couldn't breathe.
Julian's mother had introduced us.
She'd encouraged the marriage.
She'd helped alter my medical records.
And now it appeared she had tried to interfere with an inheritance I never knew existed.
I looked at Gabriel.
"How much is the trust worth?"
He hesitated.
"The patent portfolio is valued in the hundreds of millions, though your actual interest hasn't been fully determined."
I stared at him.
Suddenly, the marriage looked like something entirely different.
Not a failed romance.
A carefully planned acquisition.
Then Rachel called.
"Khloe, we've located your father's original trust instructions."
Her voice trembled.
"There's a clause naming the person he wanted to protect your interests if you were ever pressured or deceived."
I swallowed.
"Who?"
Rachel paused.
May you like
Then answered.
"Gabriel Lancaster."
